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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26568505">Solo Adventures</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fedora/pseuds/Winter%20Hat'>Winter Hat (Fedora)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Monster Babies [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Magnus Archives (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Children, Bullies, Child Neglect, Gen, Not canonical due to timeline shenanigans but pretty close, child avatars of eldritch fear gods, children with super powers, creepy children, petulant teenagers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 10:35:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,441</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26568505</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fedora/pseuds/Winter%20Hat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Elias must return home for a short time, so Jon gets a solo trip to the playground and meets a new friend.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jonathan Sims &amp; Elias Bouchard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Monster Babies [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1473905</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>103</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Solo Adventures</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Jon glared at the back of Mr Wilson’s head as they drove to the nearby playground.  He had a good glare, Grandpa Simon said so, and Mr Wilson knew that he knew that this was a </span>
  <b>Bribe</b>
  <span>.  And he did not accept it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Elias wasn’t even there to explain what was going on.  Jon wasn’t used to not knowing something or not having Elias around to explain it.  How could Elias be going to see family when Jon wasn’t allowed to go with?  If Elias had an older sister, then why wasn’t she around to help Elias, like Elias helped him?  There were so many things that could pretend to be friendly that weren’t.  Adults just weren’t very good at noticing things, and Leitner was easy to trick. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once they reached the playground, Jon’s plan had been to stay by the car in protest.  But Mr Wilson picked him up under his arms and carried him over to the slide.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Go play.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The only thing to do was ignore the slide and check on the Spider Tree.  It was a tree full of spiders, but he didn’t think it was a normal tree full of spiders.  Harriet said it wasn’t a Web tree.  She said that Grandpa Simon had met a Web and said if you could see the spider it wasn’t a Web spider. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a hole in the trunk where if he stood on his tiptoes on one of the roots, he could just see inside.  There were a lot of webs.  Jon didn’t see any spiders in the webs, but didn’t want to disturb them, just in case.  And he wasn’t sure if this counted as not seeing the Web Spider.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He wanted to ask Elias.  It wasn’t </span>
  <b>fair</b>
  <span>.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon walked far enough away from the tree so that the spiders would need to work to reach him, but not so far that he couldn’t Watch and flopped down onto the grass.  Mr Wilson was sitting on a bench next to a lady with a small baby and really curly hair.  Her hair was even curlier than Harriet’s, and the lady and Mr Wilson were smiling and laughing.  </span>
  <b>That</b>
  <span> wasn’t fair either.  Elias got into trouble when he made other people smile and laugh at the playground.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon moved again so he didn’t have to see Mr Wilson talk with the lady.  If he only Knew it was happening then he could ignore it and it wasn’t that bad.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This brought him into view of the swingset.  Jon didn’t like the swings at home because Harriet would always play Blue Sky and he was bored of that game.  He’d been in the Sky and didn’t need to go again.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Most of the swings were in use.  There were groups of people, kids who got to be with </span>
  <b>their</b>
  <span> older siblings or adults that were playing with the little kids.  There was only one boy by himself with no adults or siblings to push him.  The boy scruffed his trainers in the dirt and didn’t look at anyone else.  His jacket had a large front pocket holding a large stuffed spider with only </span>
  <em>
    <span>two</span>
  </em>
  <span> eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you done with the swing?”  The boy hadn’t looked up when Jon walked over, but did when he spoke.  He stopped moving the swing and stared.  “I would like a turn.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can see me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course I can see you,” He was the </span>
  <b>Archivist</b>
  <span>.  It was his job to see things, even if Elias said he couldn’t tell anyone.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh,” the boy stood up but didn’t move away. Jon scowled, he still couldn’t get on the swing.  “I’m Martin Blackwood.  Are you sure you can see me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You </span>
  <b>are</b>
  <span> in front of the swing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry!” Martin stepped away, and Jon could finally sit down.  “What’s your name?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jon.”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Martin shuffled his feet like he had a question but Leitner was around so he couldn’t ask.  Jon Watched Martin and waited; Leitner wasn’t here so Martin could ask all the questions he wanted.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Could I help push?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not too hard, I don’t want to go over the top.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can do that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not as fun as it sounds,” Jon replied.  That was the only thing other than Blue Sky Harriet liked to play, and she could be </span>
  <b>mean</b>
  <span> when she did it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Martin smiled a little at him and was very careful with how hard he pushed.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The swings were much more fun when Harriet wasn’t around to be the boss of everyone.  He got to enjoy the view from the top and not worry about clouds.  But soon he noticed Mr Wilson when he was heading down.  Something he’d said made the lady laugh and turn her head to the side.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon jumped off the swing and looked at Martin.  “Your turn.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Martin didn’t seem as happy about that and kept turning around to look at Jon and twisting the swing in circles.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do I need to show you how to swing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Martin blushed.  “I want to be sure you remember I’m here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m pushing.  I won’t forget why I’m doing that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looked like he wanted to argue, but Jon made a face like Elias when Jon didn’t want to go to lessons and Martin turned forward.  Jon had known that would work; Elias always got him to go to lessons, even the boring ones.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now that he was swinging properly, Martin seemed to be having fun.  Sometimes he would laugh, and Jon was excited that he had something new to tell Elias.  He had made a </span>
  <b>friend</b>
  <span> all by himself.  Elias would be so pleased, and Jon would tell him that they’d talked.  And he’d been very gentle with his questions, and he’d been very patient and waited to be told things.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When a hand grabbed one of the chains holding up the swing, Jon had smiled up at the bigger kid.  He’d been thinking of Elias so hard, he thought his brother had come home early.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Stop being weird and let someone else have a turn.”  The big kid frowned down at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Martin’s not done yet.”  The big kid frowned harder; he couldn’t See, and Martin started to cry.  That was </span>
  <b>unacceptable</b>
  <span>.  Friends did not let friends cry.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your little imaginary friend can be done.  Let real people swing now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Martin sobbed once and slid off the swing to stand on the ground clutching his incorrect spider.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And you know all about imaginary.  Don’t you Carl Slate?” Jon stood as tall as he could and glared at Carl.  He was being </span>
  <b>mean</b>
  <span>.  “You wet the bed last week because you saw something in the dark and wouldn’t get up to go to the loo.  Your parents said you were imagining things.  But you </span>
  <b>weren’t</b>
  <span>.  You weren’t, and it’ll come </span>
  <b>back</b>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In front of Jon, Carl was gray and shaking.  Behind him, Martin had stopped crying.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jon,” Martin pulled on his arm. “I think I’m done.  Let’s do something else.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon looked at Martin in confusion.  “But you were having fun.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We can have fun doing something else.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay,” Jon turned back to Carl.  “We’re done.  You may have a turn now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Martin grabbed his hand, and they walked back to the Spider Tree.  Mr Wilson wasn’t even looking his way.  Grown ups didn’t notice anything.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why did you do that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He made you cry.  Friends don’t let people make their friends cry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re friends?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aren’t we?”  Jon was worried.  He thought that was how you made friends.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’d like that!”  Martin smiled, wide and bright.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good,” Jon turned to the tree.  “Now.  Do you like spiders?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I love spiders!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Does this look like a normal a lot of spiders?  Or an unnatural a lot of spiders?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Martin stood on his toes to look in the tree.  “That is a lot of spiders.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But what kind of a lot?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Martin turned out to be an even better debate partner than Elias.  Elias was very important and needed to Watch so many things; sometimes he couldn’t give the issue his full attention.  Martin always looked directly at him when he talked, unless he was examining the Spider Tree again.  And he asked so many questions that Jon had to think of different ways to explain things.  He couldn’t just Know all the answers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Then Martin taught him hopscotch.  Jon could have just Known how to play, but Martin had enjoyed teaching and they got to make up rules for how to play with more than one person.  Jon had even forgotten that his outing had been a </span>
  <b>Bribe</b>
  <span> when Mr Wilson came to take him home.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can Martin come visit?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Martin nodded enthusiastically.  “My mum won’t mind at all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mr Wilson looked beside Jon where Martin stood.  Jon could tell he wasn’t Seeing properly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure.  Why not?”  Jon grinned and grabbed Martin’s hand to walk to the car.  “I’m not paid enough for this,” Mr Wilson muttered behind them.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Elias wanted to end the world in a fiery cataclysm.  Or barring that, a cup of Earl Gray from Leitner’s “hidden” stash and a nap before rejoining the other captives.  He wasn’t going to get it, but the fantasy had gotten him through the last day of a long weekend with his parents and siblings.  And they wondered why he’d tried drugs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His parents had been focused on the newest important thing, and he was, as always, a brief stop in their review of the environment.  He shivered to think that if he’d never found the Beholding he would still be unknown and overlooked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His older sister was celebrating getting into her preferred graduate program and could be forgiven for not speaking with him.  But his younger brother…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon was six years younger than that brat and worlds better behaved.  Harriet was better behaved! The brat didn’t listen, didn’t pay attention, and didn’t remember instructions for more than two seconds.  And somehow the things he did were Elias’s fault for “not watching him properly”.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leitner had personally come to drop him off and pick him up again on Tuesday.  His parents were suitably impressed with the “personal attention”.  He’d split his attention between the meeting in his parents’ office and the brat.  He apparently responded well to structure and responsibility.  While the brat responded well to always thinking he saw something out of the corner of his eye.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On the way back to the Institute Leitner did most of the talking.  While there were other people Elias would rather be stuck in a car with, it was gratifying to once again have his opinions heard.  Leitner did his experiments his way, but would often turn to Elias for suggestions on the captives’ living areas.  Karolina loved her new blackout curtains, and Jon’s mood had improved drastically after his solo trip to the local playground.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Elias was relieved that the suggestion had worked.  He hadn’t been having much luck explaining to Jon why he had to stay behind, and Harriet had been determined to be the opposite of helpful.  He Knew she understood the distinction between blood family and a connection forged through their Patrons, but she was determined to keep Jon confused for as long as possible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dennis took his bag once they entered the manor, and Elias couldn’t help relaxing just a bit.  He hated that this was home, but it was still home, far more than his parents’ house.  Leitner was silent as Elias took a moment to close his physical eyes and Look over the household.  Once his abilities had become more reliable Leitner had come to expect Elias to mention if anything was out of place, and the man felt smug about being able to monitor his property without the records that came with cameras.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why didn’t you mention we’d gotten another student?”  It should have been the first thing Leitner had mentioned when they’d been alone in the car. Leitner didn’t take the children’s development as seriously as Elias thought he should, but this was beyond negligent.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We didn’t.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He was coloring with Jon,” Leitner continued to look at him with confusion.  It seemed he couldn’t take anything seriously without Elias prompting.  “We’ll see him in a moment anyway.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eias got on his knees so when Jon came skidding into the foyer he could catch his brother in a hug.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Elias! You came back!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And this is what he missed while at his parents’ house, someone who was happy to see him and have him around.  And if he hugged Jon a little tighter than normal, Jon knew better than to mention it in front of Leitner.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And who’s your friend?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The boy fidgeting in front of Leitner grinned nearly as widely as Jon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can see me!  Jon said you would!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s a Lonely,” Jon whispered to him before stepping back.  “His name is Martin.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That… was going to take some unpacking.  Later, when he wasn’t the only responsible party in the room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Would you like a hug as well Martin?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Martin lunged forward into the hug and started to sob into his shoulder.  This shirt was going to need to be changed at the earliest opportunity.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Over Martin’s shoulder, Elias could see when understanding overtook Leitner, and he could finally see the new child.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“When did he get here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Martin came to visit from the park.  Then Mr Wilson wouldn’t take him home, so he’s been sleeping in my room.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Martin pulled back when he was done crying, and Elias gave him a tissue from the pack in his pocket.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I see,” Leitner scowled.  “I am going to have a talk with Wilson.  Elias, talk to Dennis about getting Martin settled properly.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I told you Elias would solve everything,” Jon said once Leitner had left.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But what about my mum?  What if she needs something and I’m not there?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Elias noted that Martin didn’t say his mother would notice him missing, but didn’t comment.  Instead he stood and offered a hand to each child.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sure we can work something out.  But first, if no one realized you were here for two days, when were you eating?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No one noticed so I sat with Jon and we shared a plate,” the boys smiled at each other.  “He’s a good friend.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon bounced a few steps at the praise.  At least that meant Jon hadn’t forgotten to go down for mealtime while he was gone.  “Then our first stop is the kitchen to get the two of you something to snack on while I have Dennis open a room for Martin.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can it be near us?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I will make sure of it.”</span>
</p>
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